IELTS READING TIPS

Reading tips for IELTS

Reading Tips and Tricks, How to Improve the IELTS Reading Exam Score for Academic and General Training Candidates

READING TIPS FOR IELTS

Hello, I'm Parth Dungrani, here I am writing this post about IELTS reading tips. I have heard from many people that they have a lot of difficulties solving the IELTS reading the part question.

Yes, that's right.  In the IELTS exam reading module, 60 out of 100 students have difficulty obtaining the desired band score.

So, you're on the right blog.  From here you will find the best tips for a good score in the IELTS exam.

Let's first review the reading module of the IELTS exam.

As you know, academic and general training candidates have different papers.

My tips are valid for both.

You have 60 Minutes to solve 40 questions in Reading Part of the IELTS exam.

There are many different types of questions asked in the Reading of the IELTS test.

• True/ False/ Not-given
• Yes/ No/ Not-given
• Match the headings
• Match the information
• Multiple choices questions
• Complete the summary
• Sentence completion
• Complete the table
• Flow chart completion
• Complete the diagram
• Short answer the question

You can understand each and every question type in detail from the following link.

IELTS READING: QUESTION TYPES

Today, I'm giving you some tips to improve your reading skills.

• First, let's look at some of the common problems that most people face.
• First and foremost is time.  I've seen many people that they can't solve 40 questions in just 60 minutes. You can easily get your work done ahead of time by following my tips.

You've seen many blogs and YouTube videos that suggest you can improve your reading score simply by watching the video or reading the blog.  I totally disagree with that.  Because whatever you read or see and you do not implement on your reading you cannot achieve a high score in reading.

• My first advice is that you should do a lot of practice to improve your reading skills.

Time is a crucial part of this test so you should practice the tests with a timer.

• I recommend not giving you the same amount of time on each passage.  Instead, you can schedule time as follows.

1st passage	15 minutes
2nd passage	20 minutes
3rd passage	25 minutes

• You should understand each and every question type because all questions required different strategies, such as some answers come in order, some do not.  So if you know you can give it better.
• Many students do not read the instructions carefully and lose marks.  So carefully read all the instructions in the question.

You should develop the following skill to improve your reading score.

1. Skimming

2. Scanning

3. In-depth reading

Skimming: 

This is a technique to skim the entire passage to get a general idea about the passage.

• For example, about this passage, parts of the passage such as introduction, benefits, disadvantages, reasons, conclusions.
• You should skim every passage within 2 or 3 minutes and understand what is offered in the passage.  So whenever you search for something about it, you can easily identify which paragraph should have the answer.

Scanning:

 This is a technique for scanning information for the purpose of searching a particular word or phrase.

• For example, the question is about a birth year, you need to find a certain number like 1967 or 1865.
• After reading and underlining the keywords in question.  You have to find synonyms or that particular keyword in the passage. Once you find that word you can identify the answer 2 or 3 lines above or below that word.

In-depth reading:

 This is a technique to understand the full meaning of a paragraph.

• For example, in the type of true/false/ not given questions you have to read in in order to understand the full meaning of the paragraph.  Otherwise, you cannot identify the correct answer. Therefore, these are the three techniques that are required to solve the reading test.

Vocabulary:

• As you all know that without vocabulary you can not understand a single thing in the paragraph.
• Therefore, you should learn new words every day.  Not only the meaning is important, but it is also important when and where to use that word.
• Most students do not get that score because of the vocabulary, Vocabulary is important not only in the reading section but also in all parts of the IELTS test.

• It is a potential vocabulary test, as synonyms and paraphrasing are used in each and every type of question.  So the more words you know, the more marks you'll get.
• You have to read a lot to improve your vocabulary.  You can read newspapers every day, you read books, magazines, etc.

• But my suggestion for the IELTS test is that you should read the maximum number of passages as you can, it helps a lot.
• In the beginning, you should read 20 to 30 large passages without solving any questions.  The purpose of this reading is simply to improve your vocabulary level.
• After that, you can practice as an exam pattern.

Don't try to understand the whole passage by meaning:

• The purpose of the reading test is to find the answers but not to research the passage.
• Many students read the entire passage word by word and then complain of a lack of time. This happens when you read the entire passage at once. You have to search for keywords and just try to find them, you can easily identify answer nearby the keywords.
• If you do this you can save a lot of time.

Grammar:

• Grammar is an essential part of IELTS.  If your grammar is good then you can easily understand the meaning of the sentences.
• Types of questions like summary completion require grammar knowledge, because of the different grammatical structures, you can identify where adverbs or adjectives are used in the blanks.
• Grammar plays a major role in all parts of the IELTS EXAM.You can refer to grammar books that are available in the market.

Ignore anything you know about topics:

• Most people make mistakes here. Sometimes the passage is about familiar topics. At that point, people make assumptions by themselves, and they may fail to give the right answers.
• You can't make any assumptions because of questions like YES / NO/ NOT GIVEN, They asked about the author's opinion.  So if you make an assumption without reading the author's opinion, your answer will be incorrect.

Focus on your weaknesses:

• After each test, you have to analyze yourself, in which part, you make more mistakes.
• After knowing that you have to start improving that part, you will get success after practicing that part.
• Many students just complete the test and do not analyze after the test.  In my opinion, they are not improving their reading skills and they are wasting their time.
• Therefore, analysis of the test is also necessary.

Don't expect more than you deserve: 

• If you are a 6 band student, you should not expect a straight 9 band.  First, you have to reach 7 then 8 and 9. After enough practice, you can get it.

Don't waste too much time on the same question. 

• If you can't find the answer to the question, don't panic.  Leave without wasting your time. In the end, if you have some time then try it.

The practice is the key to success.

• As you know, with daily and consistent practice you can achieve anything you want.
• So, in the end, I would suggest that practice daily with some of the official material, such as the Cambridge Books.

• Also, you can see some practice test material on the IELTS official website.
• You can visit the link below.                                                                                                                                   https://www.ielts.org/

Transfering answers:

• As you know, no extra time is given to transfer the answer to the answer sheet.  Do not write the answer on the question paper.  So practice writing your answer directly on a separate page. This will help in the actual exam.

Don't leave any blank:

• As you know there is no negative mark on the wrong answer so if you do not know the answer, simply do not leave it.  Write a guess. Sometimes it comes true.

• Above all the tips are valid for both academic as well as general training candidates.

For general training candidates:

• Reading test is different from academic so study according to general training material.You can refer to Cambridge's official material.

A final tip from me:

• Try to relax before the exam, if you are nervous you will not get a good score.

Related Article:

Listening tips by Parth

IELTS READING: QUESTION TYPES

Writing tips by Parth

Speaking tips by Parth

What is the IELTS Exam? Why IELTS? IELTS Test Format

• For more about IELTS related posts, you can visit my blog. The link is given below.

                 Tips for IELTS by Parth

I hope you like this article, "IELTS READING" So, Please share this article, so other people can also follow these tips.

If you have any questions regarding the READING section Please comment below.

I will try to solve your doubts as soon as possible.

•  I want you to share this article with people who are also preparing for IELTS.  So they can be helped too.